https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16331088476/

Photographic outings with others can be both stimulating and distracting, both in a good way!

When I go out with friends I find the way I see things changes, not only for the moment for for several days after.

We all have differing points of view which on their own define a persons 'style' but allowing your mind to open up to other possibilities and by stepping out of your comfort zone you might just find a new 'style' a blend of your own and another.

A case in point:

Recently I have been influenced by two of my friends to the point of creating an 'Homage' photograph.

The first was not deliberate, it just happened.

The second was deliberately chosen to reflect someone's 'style'.

Yes I may tease them but it is more than that, it is an admission of a style that I am impressed and altered by.

So here is the homage to two fine photographers who's work I have tried to emulate in recent weeks:

Vartkes

https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_armenian/16051533402/

Patrick

https://www.flickr.com/photos/50144691@N02/15683822505/

Classic defining photographs from each of them.

And in seeing their work I have been changed, hopefully for the better!

“The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer”. ~Author Unknown

Dawn ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15679208554/

I've always been a morning person.

Watching the sun rise on a new day is deeply satisfying.

To do it 'out there', in a frozen field of a meadow full of flowers is even more satisfying.

Now most would disagree but that's OK I like the wild places to be empty.

Around here, within a half hour drive, we have so many choices for an early morning walk.

“Blessed” is the word I guess.

Yesterday was one such morning, Fletchers Creek was the location. 20 min from home and a bit of a walk as the sky lightened we found a spot and watched the sun crest the distant tree's painting the sky with an ever changing palette.

In about 5 minutes it was all over but what a five minutes !

“I’ll tell you how the Sun rose—
A Ribbon at a time....”
~Emily Dickinson, c.1860

The season of the mind ..

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15627623713/

The season of the mind ..

Cold out?

It's all in your head!

You see, if you look at the forecast or the thermometer you would not go out until Spring.

But if you bundle up in layers, add an extra pair of socks and your warmest gloves it can be invigorating!

Yesterday the 'mercury' dipped to -17c and the windchill took that down to -27c.

Was I home by the fire ?

No I was out with other like-minded friends wandering through Rockwood Conservation Area admittedly staying in the tree shrouded hollows away from the wind, but out non-the-less.

What an invigorating morning!

We wandered together and apart for several hours marveling at Winters handiwork and then on the Ridge Trail Patrick spotted a shape in a tree .. “is that an owl'?

Then it took off, yes an owl!

What a treat!

You see only moments before we had been discussing the Great Horned Owl that Doug had heard recently nr Tobermory and there he was! 

 

People think that the woods are full of wildlife but to see an owl is special.

Actually to see anything other than a squirrel or a or a chickadee is always special!

Often heard but not always visible the creatures of the great outdoors chatter back and forth in a tongue we cannot understand but it is a joy to listen in..

“What nutriment can I extract from these bare twigs? Starvation stares me in the face. "Nay, nay," said a nuthatch, making its way, head downward, about a bare hickory close by, "The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat.... If at any time the weather is too bleak and cold for you, keep the sunny side of the trunk, for a wholesome and inspiring warmth is there, such as the summer never afforded...." "Hear! hear!" screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, "winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it."... [A] red squirrel... came running down a slanting bough, and as he stopped twirling a nut, called out rather impudently, "Look here! just get a snug-fitting fur coat and a pair of fur gloves like mine, and you may laugh at a northeast storm."” ~Henry David Thoreau, Nov. 8, 1858

First Light 2015

  https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16163868141/

Here at least, the New Year arrived with a growl or was it the old years departing shot?

The gauntlet of the 'First Light Challenge” was picked up by a few hardy souls who ventured out in the pre-dawn light of a new year to be faced with high winds and cloud from Hamilton to Tobermory.

So much for inspiration..

After standing on a windswept dock in LaSalle Park my little group happily agreed to head out to find somewhere that might be open at 9:00 am on this morning.

Bacon, eggs and tea/coffee served somewhere warm!

We found an oasis in AJ's in Waterdown were the smiles were as warming as the tea.

Thank you ladies for being there and thank you my friends old and new for taking up my silly challenge and braving the new dawn with me.

A New Years wish for one and all..

“And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,
And been bow'd to the earth by its fury;
To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury -
Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,
And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen”.
~Thomas Hood

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15443048184/

Childhoods End ..

A book by Arthur C Clarke.

But what I want to talk about is how we encounter our own “Childhoods End” and what a pity it is when we do.

So many people give up being a child when they go through puberty and approach adulthood. They do this because they think they have too, because it's the price you have to pay to be a responsible adult.

I think that the price is too high and at best a fallacy.

Me?

Well I love to be up before dawn to see the new day break

Stormy days,Rainy days, Sunny days all invigorate the senses

Snowy days !! ah yes, snowy days, how can anyone not feel that deep sense of peace when they look out at the softly falling snow ?

Yesterday I and some friends walked a short section of the Bruce Trail in Waterdown, Ontario. 

A section called Grindstone Falls.

We didn't get too far before we scared a fox. Her reaction when she realised we were there was hilarious and set the mood for the morning as she scampered off down the trail.

Down by the falls the ice was forming, jewels hung from the low hanging branches and the rocks near the falls were slick with a thin, almost invisible coat of ice.

Several hours passed as we looked, saw and photographed winters wonders. 

When our thoughts returned to the here and now we realised just how chilled we had become and decided to head back to town for treats and banter.

As we sat around a table, talking, laughing and reliving the morning we were childlike still.

Ah to see the world through child like eye's and to wonder at the wonder of it all.

No, for me there can be no “Childhoods End”

“Long time a child, and still a child, when years
Had painted manhood on my cheek, was I;
For yet I lived like one not born to die;
A thriftless prodigal of smiles and tears—
No hope I needed, and I knew no fears.
But sleep, though sweet, is only sleep—and waking,
I waked to sleep no more; at once o'ertaking
The vanguard of my age, with all arrears
Of duty on my back. Nor child, nor man,
Nor youth, nor sage, I find my head is gray,
For I have lost the race I never ran.
A rathe December blights my lagging May:
And still I am a child, though I be old
Time is my debtor for my days untold”.
~Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849)

Patience has it's own reward ..

 On Flickr

 

Lets talk about ‘patience’..

Patience in this ‘instant’ age of Facebook, Instagram and all of the electronic means of communication seems redundant prehistoric even but to those of us who are ‘pre-internet’ it still holds value.

You see, for many, many months stretching into a year or more I have looked at the same scene but it has never materialised as the scene in my head.

Until yesterday.

Despite the bad start to the day, a rushed visit to the local emergency veterinarian with Winter who decided to drink a bottle of cough syrup (a whole other story, suffice it to say she is OK and my wallet considerably lighter) …. the fog and mists rolled in and I happened to drive by ‘the scene’.

Yes! it was developing nicely, so I continued home to drop off Winter and pick up a camera and sketch book of course.

Dashing back to the vantage point I have decided upon so long ago I made several images of the scene and in turning around to find yet another scene from the past list..

Two quick sketches completed my odyssey and I was on my way home again, there and back in 30 min.

30 minute journey that spanned a year.

My patience was rewarded, I have my photograph.

Not as perfect as the one in my head but close enough to make me smile.

I may not be the best photographer or artist but patience and perseverance make me better than I am.

“With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable”. ~Thomas Foxwell Buxton

Mr Clean

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15966230782/ 

Sometimes, well most times we do not see, or choose not to see the homeless and disadvantaged among us.

Yesterday I walked the mean streets of Hamilton with friends and was amazed by the numbers of homeless, transient and ‘lost’ souls who inhabit that part of town.

One of the first people I ‘met’ was smiling, laughing and walking with a spring in his step. He had just been ‘released’ and was making his way home with a small bag of possessions.

Can you imagine how that feels?

No neither can I but I caught a glimpse of it in those few moments.

Another, just a working man trying to get by was working a pump extracting grease and oil from the fryers at a local restaurant. If you have ever smelled old grease you can imagine how this scene was but he worked with a smile and was more than happy to chat about his job. He even posed for a photograph.

Can you imagine such a job ?

No neither can I and I am grateful that I do not have to do it.

As we walked I watched my friend Grant engage these people and many more with a quick word and a smile often convincing them to pose for a photograph.

He  has a way with people from all walks of life, especially the downtrodden.

Watching him engage total strangers in conversation was and is inspiring.

“It’s easy to be nice to people” was his only comment.

Yes it is but unfortunately it is easier to walk on by pretending they do not exist.

“The next evolutionary step for humankind is to move from human to kind”. ~Author Unknown